Who I Am
by IndusLotus2001
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy doesn't think he'll make any friends in Hogwarts, especially not Rose Wealey. So when he meets Rose and realizes she doesn't know who he is, he lies about his identity. But with the Sorting coming up, how long can he keep up his lie? One-shot, Scorose. T for mention of Hermione's torture.


**A/N: Hey everyone! So I had this idea for months and finally got it down, but didn't want tp publish it until I finished the fanfic I was working on before this. Finally, I decided to publish the first chapter as a one-shot, then write more for this after I finish my other fic. Anyway, be kind guys, as this is my first HP fic. Please review!**

 **Here the ages for the Weasley-Potter-Friends Clan (1):**

Teddy Lupin: 19, in the Auror Training Program, out of Hogwarts for two years, was in Gryffindor

Victorie Weasley: 17, Seventh Year, Head Girl, Gryffindor

Molly Weasley II: 16, Sixth Year, Prefect, Gryffindor

Dominique Weasley: 15, Fifth Year, Prefect, Gryffindor

Fred Weasley II: 14, Fourth Year, Gryffindor **(2)**

Roxanne "Roxy" Weasley: 13, Third Year, Gryffindor

Louis Weasley: 13, Third Year, Gryffindor

James Potter: 12, Second Year, Gryffindor

Lysander Scamander (son of Luna and Rolf): 12, Second Year, Ravenclaw

Lorcan Scamander (son of Luna and Rolf, Lysander's twin): 12, Second Year, Gryffindor

Rose Weasley: 11, First Year, House to be determined

Albus Potter: 11, First Year, House to be determined

Scorpius Malfoy: 11, First Year, House to be determined

Alice Longbottom (daughter of Neville and Hannah): 11, First Year, House to be determined

Hugo Weasley: 10, will attend Hogwarts in one year

Frank Longbottom (son of Neville and Hannah): 10, will attend Hogwarts in one year

Lily Potter: 9, will attend Hogwarts in two years **(3)**

Lucy Weasley: 8, will attend Hogwarts in three years

 **(1): There are several other family friends mentioned in this fic. I put in the ages and houses of the ones that will become bigger characters should I choose to update this story. That's the Longbottoms and the Scamanders.**

 **(2): Fred's age was tough for me. A lot of fics make him James' age, and Roxanne is supposed to be younger, meaning she'd be Rose's age, but most fics make Roxy older than Rose. Some other fics I read have Fred older than Roxanne and Roxanne older than James. One fic even had Fred and Roxy as twins, even though Fred being older than Roxanne is canon. I decided I didn't want Roxy to be Rose's age, so I made them both older.**

 **(3): Most fics make Lily and Hugo the same age, and even the Harry Potter Wiki page said they are the same, but for some reason my first understanding was that Hugo was a year older than Lily and would head to Hogwarts a year earlier. So for this story, I'm sticking to that age difference, but for the other two, I'll make them the same age.**

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

Rose Weasley was just like her mother. Yes, she had red hair instead of brown, but she had her mother's bushy hair, her chocolate brown eyes, her affinity for reading and education, and of course, her brains. So of course naturally everyone expected Rose Weasley to have her mother's love of rules. Those expectations, much to Hermione's disappointment and Ron's excitement, were not met.

It should've been obvious in hindsight. Sure Rose was just like her mother, but she also grew up spending her time with the children and god child of Harry Potter (James, Albus, and Teddy Lupin), the children of George Weasley (Fred and Roxanne), and the children of Bill Weasley (Victoire and Louis). All had an affinity for pranks, much like their ancestors, George, Ron, and the late Fred Weasley. Of course there were some cousins (namely Dominique, Molly, and Lucy) who were able to stay away from the pranking scene, but the others, like Lily and Hugo, as they got older, got drawn in by the other cousins and helped pull pranks.

So Rose Weasley did not follow rules, which meant that her father's warning to _not_ associate with any Slytherins went ignored.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

Scorpius Malfoy had been excited to go to Hogwarts since he was four years old. But now that he was eleven and he was actually going, he found himself feeling the opposite. His mother always talked about the wonderful experiences she and her sister had at Hogwarts, but he knew his father's experience wasn't quite the same.

That wasn't to say Draco didn't like Hogwarts, because he did. But his sixth and seventh years brought on a lot of pain, and left his family as the object of several people's hatred. Scorpius had faced that first hand. The minute people found out who his father was, they wanted nothing to do with him.

Scorpius didn't even get along with the kids of his father's old friends. None of them really stayed friends with Draco. Some of them, like Pansy Parkinson (now Pansy Nott) and Blaise Zabini stayed in Draco's life because they were friends with Astoria, but their kids shunned Scorpius the way everyone else did.

At first, Scorpius thought he'd have his twin cousins Amanda and Ashli with him. But then his Aunt Daphne and her husband moved to America so that he could work at the American equivalent of the Ministry and his cousins would attend the magical school there. So Scorpius had no friends to go into school with and he was certain he'd make no new friends.

Plus, there was a lot of pressure for him to stay away from "undesirable people" like the kids in that awful "Potter-Weasley family" and to be "sorted into Slytherin, the only house that will truly give you the education you deserve."

If Scorpius wasn't in Slytherin, maybe he could prove he was different from his dad. That he wasn't someone to be feared or hated. But if he wasn't in Slytherin, he'd also lose that little bit of respect and love his father had for him. So now that it was time to go to Hogwarts, he wished he could just stay home instead.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

Rose felt nothing but elation as her family reached King's Cross station. She was even happier to see the Potters already there. James was nowhere in sight, but she was sure she'd see him on the train. Lily saw her first and waved. Rose waved back.

Albus led the family towards them. "Hi," he said, sounding really relieved. Rose beamed at him, thinking it was quite endearing that he was clearly waiting for her to arrive. But of course, that was to be expected. Albus and Rose had been best friends since they were babies. He was her favorite cousin and vice versa.

"Where's James?" Rose asked as her parents and Harry conversed about the drive.

"He already went through the barrier," Lily said. "Look what he gave me!"

Rose looked to see Lily showing her a goblet.

"What's so special about that?" Hugo spoke up.

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's from Hogwarts! James said so. He swiped it from the Thanksgiving feast last year."

"No way. You can't steal from Hogwarts," Hugo said.

"Mum, isn't this from Hogwarts?" Lily asked, showing Ginny the goblet.

Ginny looked at it and her eyes widened. "Why…yes, it is. Lil, where did you get this?"

"From James."

"How come James _stole_ you a souvenir, and all he did for me is give me grief about possibly being in Slytherin?" Albus complained.

"He likes me better," Lily said so casually that even the adults laughed.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione then talked about how it was possible for James to steal from Hogwarts. There was no way they'd get away with that in their day.

"Aren't you so excited Al? What spells have you practiced so far?" Rose asked. Her favorite thing about not being a Hogwarts student was that they were allowed to use magic over the summer while they were underage.

"I tried a couple of the simple ones, like Lumos, but James was always there, and he made me nervous."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I love James to death, but sometimes it burns me up the way he treats you. Do you want some pointers?"

"Could you show me now?" Al begged. "I want to know at least one spell before I get there. That would be one more than James knew."

Rose laughed. "Let's make it really impressive then. I've been practicing like crazy, and finally managed to disarm my dad."

Albus's eyes widened. "Wow. Rose, you're going to be top of the class if you can already do that," he said.

"You can too. Take out your wand, I'll show you."

Al did so, and Rose started him on the movements. Before he could try the spell for real, Ron and Harry, who were loading Al and Rose's trunks onto the train, came back to the platform. They seemed more interested in the conversation Lily and Hugo were having about what house they would get sorted into when they finally got to Hogwarts than the fact that Al and Rose had their wands out.

"You'll definitely be in Gryffindor. You're more daring than even James," Hugo was saying. "I bet I'll be in Ravenclaw."

"You read a lot, but you're not clever enough for that," Lily replied. "Besides, you're brave too. I bet you'll be a Gryffindor."

Ron looked at Rose. "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," he said, "but no pressure."

 _"Ron_!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Rose and Al looked nervous.

"He doesn't mean it," Hermione assured them.

Rose looked relieved and smiled. "Yeah, I know. I know whatever house I'm in will be the one I belong in. I trust the Sorting Hat."

Al didn't look any less nervous. He just moaned. Rose gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew AL had been stressing over the possibility of being in Syltherin. She didn't really see what the big deal was. Sure Slytherin had produced a lot of evil wizards, but when you actually thought about Slytherin traits, they didn't sound so bad. The House was dedicated to witches and wizards with ambition. That was a good thing. She wouldn't mind if she was put in Slytherin. She had the ambition to be the brightest witch in their year like her mum was, and pulling all those pranks with her cousins all those years gave her the sly and cunning traits.

"Look who it is," Harry said suddenly, nodding his head at someone fifty yards away.

A man with silvery blond hair, pale skin, and gray eyes stood with his wife. She was beautiful, with raven hair and blue eyes. Rose knew from her parent's descriptions that they were Draco and Astoria Malfoy. Rose assumed they were there with their kid, but she wasn't sure. She'd inherited her dad's height, meaning she'd probably be taller than most of her cousins and friends by the time she was thirteen, but for right now, she was the shortest of the bunch besides Lily and Lucy. She couldn't see who the man and woman were talking to.

"So that's little Scorpius," Ron said, and Rose craned her neck, but still couldn't see him, since he was being blocked by several tall students. She imagined a small boy with black hair and blue eyes. It seemed more likely that he'd look like his mother. Black hair was dominant when it was against blond hair, and gray eyes were rarer than blue. Though, she shouldn't really be talking considering brown hair was dominant against red, but she still ended up a ginger.

"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains," Ron said.

Rose smirked. She wasn't planning to show any mercy to anyone in her year.

"Ron, for Heaven's sake, don't try to turn them against each other before the year even starts!" Hermione cried.

Ron apologized to Hermione, but said, "Don't get _too_ friendly with him though Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood.

Rose chose to not remind her father that he was a pureblood himself, and instead exchanged smirks with her mother. Ron had told Rose _not_ to become friends with Scorpius Malfoy, so of course she would _have_ to befriend him now.

Anyway, her mother had told her that Draco was the second brightest wizard in their year, and if Scorpius was anything like his father, he would be her main competition. It would be fun to be friends with someone who could give her a run for her money. And it would be nice to have a friend that cared about schoolwork as much as she did. She wasn't even _in_ Hogwarts yet, and she knew more than James learned in his first year.

James came back through the barrier, shouting something about Harry's godson Teddy Lupin snogging their oldest cousin Victoire.

Lily and Rose rolled their eyes at each other. Of course James, oblivious to anything that didn't involve him directly, wouldn't pick up on the fact that Teddy and Victoire had liked each other since forever.

"It would be lovely if they got married!" Lily whispered excitedly. "Then Teddy would really be part of the family!"

Harry mentioned something about inviting Teddy to live with them, and James enthusiastically agreed, but Rose wasn't really listening since Albus reminded her she was supposed to be teaching him how to disarm someone.

"Okay, watch me first," Rose said. "James, take out your wand. I'm going to disarm you."

James laughed like a hyena. "Yeah, okay Rosie," he said, rolling his eyes, but obliged.

Hermione and Ron exchanged smirks.

Rose stood with her wand at the ready, and remembering everything her mother and her precious books had taught her, said loudly and clearly, "Expelliarmus!"

James' wand flew out of his hands and landed almost fifty feet away. Several people who were watching looked impressed.

"Who is that?" one girl Rose recognized as a friend of her fifth year cousin Dominique asked a boy who looked around 15 as well.

"I don't know. The red hair must mean she's a Weasley, but I don't think she goes to Hogwarts…yet."

"She's not even a first year and she disarmed a Potter?" the girl asked, and Rose grinned.

"Accio James' wand," Harry said, taking out his own wand. James' wand flew into his hand and he handed it back to his oldest son.

"Thanks," James muttered, embarrassed.

"I'm very impressed Rosie," Harry said to his niece. "None of us could do that spell til second year. Most of us couldn't even do it then."

"What do you expect from Hermione Granger's kid?" Ginny teased lovingly.

"Now you try Al," Rose said.

"HA!" James cried. "Rose, we all know you're good at magic. You could control it when you were four, and no one else could do that. But there's no way Al can disarm me!"

"How about you disarm him then," Rose challenged.

"Sure."

"Rose!" Al cried.

"Trust me. There's no way he can do this," Rose whispered.

Al stood with his wand at the ready, nervous. James smirked and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

Nothing happened.

"You're not doing it right," Ginny said. "Rose had the wand movements down. You don't."

"We didn't learn it yet," James complained. "It's not like Al could do it."

"Show him Al," Rose said.

Al, still nervous, nodded, and said, "Expelliarmus!"

James' wand stayed in his hand, but it did move, and had James not tightened his grip, it would've fallen.

Al's face broke out into a grin. "I may not have disarmed you," he said before James could say it, "but at least I almost succeeded. You couldn't even move my wand."

James just scowled. In the next second, his mood improved when Harry said, "It's time for you guys to get on the train."

James got on first, allowing his mother to kiss him and giving a fleeting hug to his dad. He teased Al about the thestrals.

"I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible_!" Al cried.

James just laughed and hopped on the train, running in to find his friends.

Rose shook her head and said her good byes to her parents and Hugo. Al was ready to get on the train by the time she was done. She gave Lily a quick hug, promised to write to her when she wrote to her parents and Hugo, then followed Al onto the train.

Rose knew sitting with her cousins was inevitable, and at first she was okay with it. Dominique, Molly, and Victoire would be in the prefect's compartment at first. Roxanne and Fred were probably selling Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products in various compartments. James was with his friends. Rose and Al joined Louis in his compartment. He was sitting with a couple of friends that he introduced as Emma, Robbie, and Stephen.

Lysander and Lorcan Scamander joined them a minute later. They were second years, and twins. Lysander was in Ravenclaw, and Lorcan, like all of Rose's cousins and kids of family friends, was in Gryffindor. Rose smiled and gave them both hugs. They were the sons of Luna Lovegood and her husband Rolf Scamander. Luna was a good friend of the family and her family were regular additions at the Weasley Christmas Dinner.

More family friends joined soon. Callum and Alistair Wood, the kids of Harry's old Quidditch captain Oliver Wood and his old teammate, Alicia Spinnet came first. Then came Alice Longbottom, the oldest child of family friend Neville Longbottom and his wife Hannah Abbott. Rose and Albus called them Uncle Neville and Aunt Hannah, and as the Herbology professor at Hogwarts, Neville taught them about interesting magical plants, and Alice was their age, starting Hogwarts with them, but for some reason, neither of them were really that close to Alice. Alice was good friends with Lorcan and Lysander though, which is why she sat there. Last, Jeremy and Portia Jordan, the kids of Lee Jordan (a close friend of Rose's Uncle George) and Susan Bones.

For a couple of hours, Rose really enjoyed the ride. She and Alice even had a long conversation about Polyjuice Potion, and the two actually seemed to be on their way to becoming friends. James joined them a few hours into the trip, and teased Al about being in Slytherin yet again. The others told James to lay off, but laughed a little just the same. Only Rose noticed how upset Al really was and calmed him down from a panic attack.

An hour later, Roxy and Fred joined their compartment. Louis and his friends left to find their other friends and sit with them for rest of the ride. In a few more minutes, Dominique and Victoire joined them, complaining about Molly being her usual, boring self, preferring to sit alone in a compartment and read. Rose loved to read as well, but she usually liked to do it with the company of her cousins if they were there. Molly usually made it seem like she didn't even want to be part of the family. And she _was_ rather boring. Dom usually didn't play pranks of the family, but she were still cool. Dom was the one who taught all the younger cousins how to play Exploding Snap. And Molly's younger sister Lucy stayed out of the pranking scene as well, but she was sweet and adorable, and she was spunky and confident, like Lily. Molly just acted like she was above all of them.

After a little while, Rose couldn't even hear herself think. She knew that's how it usually was with her cousins, and normally, she enjoyed the noise, but today, she didn't want to be with so many people. She'd spent the past few weeks comforting Al that she hadn't really had time to focus on herself, and she realized she was nervous too. She needed to talk to somebody about anything besides the sorting, but that all Al wanted to talk about. Not that she could really hear him over James, Roxy, and Fred joking around with each other. Rose stood up and slipped out of the compartment, unable to take the noise.

She searched for a slightly less populated compartment. Most were full of people, but one compartment was almost empty except for one boy with blond hair.

Rose opened the door and the boy looked up. She was met with pretty gray eyes.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but do you mind if I sit here? My compartment was getting too loud."

"I-I-I don't mind," the boy said.

Rose beamed at him and slipped inside, taking a seat across from him. "My name's Rose Weasley."

"I know," the boy said. "I mean…your family's pretty famous in the Wizarding world."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I wish they weren't. It's a lot to live up to. Is your family prominent is the Wizarding World?"

"Not at all!" the boy said, almost too quickly.

"Oh? Well, what's your name?

"It' S…uh, Samuel Link. Sammy."

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

While they were at King's Cross station, Draco pointed out the Weasleys to Scorpius, singling out Rose Weasley, a pretty redhead, in particular, telling him that her mother was always beating him out grades wise while he was in school.

"If she's anything like her mother," Draco said, "then she's the one you need to beat."

"Draco, please. Don't use our son in your stupid revenge scheme," Astoria chided.

"It's not stupid!" Draco protested, giving Astoria a charming smile. The only time he sounded like a truly loving man was when he was talking to his wife. He looked at Scorpius and said, "Don't be friendly with her, or with Albus Potter. He might as well be a clone of his father."

"Really Draco," Astoria sighed. "Scorpius, you be friends with whoever you like."

'Who would like me?' Scorpius wondered, but didn't say anything. He just nodded, not looking at either of his parents, making it impossible to know which parent he was nodding at (or agreeing with).

The truth was, even if he did manage to make a friend or two at Hogwarts, he knew Rose Weasley wouldn't be one of them. She probably hated his family more than the rest of the Weasley-Potter clan combined.

Growing up, Scorpius had no friends, so he spent most of his time reading. One topic he especially enjoyed reading about was the war against Voldemort, even though the books that told about the war portrayed his family in a negative light. That's why Astoria always bought Scorpius books about the war without Draco's knowledge.

Astoria had always been careful to buy Scorpius books without too much 'Malfoy slander' in them, but this summer, she hadn't been as careful. Or maybe she didn't want to be. Maybe she thought he was old enough to know now. She bought the first five books in a new series about the war that was biographical about Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, and what they went through when they skipped their last year school to hunt down horcruxes.

The fifth book talked about the horrors they went through in Malfoy Manor. How they were kidnapped by Death Eaters including fearsome werewolf Fenrir Greyback. How Draco was made to identify them. How Harry and Ron were thrown in the dungeons and found Ollivandor and Luna Lovegood were locked up with them. And how Draco's late deranged Aunt Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured Hermione Granger and carved the word 'Mudblood' on her arm.

There was no way Rose Weasley would befriend anyone in that family. So when she walked into his compartment, all smiles, he had no idea what to think. Why was she being so friendly? But then she asked about his family and for his name and he realized _she didn't know_. She had no idea who he was. So he decided to lie. If he wanted to keep his friendship with Rose Weasley, then he couldn't tell her who he really was. So he lied and gave her the first fake name he could think of: Samuel Link.

"Are you excited to get to Hogwarts Sammy?" Rose asked.

"Mildly," Scorpius replied.

"Only mildly?"

"I'm worried I won't make any friends."

Rose gave him a smile. "You don't need to worry about that. You have one already."

Scorpius smiled back.

"What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. My whole family's been in Slytherin, and that's where my dad wants me to end up. What about you?"

"My dad threatened to disinherit me if I'm not in Gryffindor," Rose said. "But if I'm being honest, I think I'm a better fit for Slytherin."

"What would your dad do to you?"

"He'd probably die of shock," Rose laughed. "So I'm hoping for Gryffindor. But, it's okay if it's not. The Sorting Hat puts you wherever it thinks you'll fit in and thrive best. So we just have to trust it."

"I sort of wish we could just choose where to be."

"Where would you choose?"

"I don't know," Scorpius said honestly. Slytherin was probably the only house that would accept him anyway. But he wished he had the choice.

"My cousin told me that the Sorting Hat takes your choice into consideration," Rose said, thinking of what Al told her earlier. "His dad told him that. The Hat wanted to place him in Slytherin, but he ended up in Gryffindor instead, because he asked _not_ to be in Slyhterin."

"So you think I could do that?"

"Sure. The Sorting Hat is only trying to do what's best for you, and if you think it's a different house than what it thinks, then it'll put you there. After all, it _is_ just a hat."

Scorpius laughed at that. Then he noticed the worry in Rose's eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just…I left my compartment because all my cousin wanted to talk about was the sorting, and I didn't want to talk about it anymore."

"Then we can talk about something else!" Scorpius said quickly, not wanting to push away the first person his own age who'd ever smiled at him so genuinely. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, I'm the one who brought it up," Rose said. "But actually you made me feel a little better about it. But there's so much more to Hogwarts than the Sorting. Like the boats and the magical creatures and the Room of Requirement."

"The what?"

"Oh, you don't know? It's kind of a secret, but I'll tell you anyway. In one of the corridors, a room opens up called the Room of Requirement and it becomes whatever kind of room you need. But until you actually need it, the room's door just looks like part of the wall. My cousins say that's where a lot of the secret parties all held."

"Do you have a lot of cousins at Hogwarts?"

"Too many!" Rose laughed. "There's my cousin Victoire in seventh year, Molly in sixth year, Vic's sister Dominique in fifth year, my cousin Fred in fourth year, his sister Roxanne and Vic and Dom's brother Louis are both third years, my cousin James in a second year, and I'm starting this year with my cousin Al, James' brother. And then there are the family friends. My uncle's godson Teddy graduated from Hogwarts two years ago, and then there's Aunt Luna's kids, Lorcan and Lysander who are second years, and Uncle Neville's daughter Alice is starting this year as well. And Uncle Ollie's kids, Callum and Alistair are in third and second year. And Uncle Lee's daughter Portia is starting this year and his son Jeremy is a fourth year."

Scorpius's mouth dropped open. "Wow. You must have friends in all the houses!"

"Actually, no," Rose said. "Lysander Scamander is in Ravenclaw, but even his twin Lorcan is in Gryffindor, as are the rest of my cousins and friends."

"If you get sorted into Gryffindor, you'll have a million friends."

Rose laughed. "True. Plus, with Dominique as a prefect and Victoire as Head Girl, it'll be easy to get out of trouble, which is good since my cousins and I are big pranksters and it'll take a little while to get used to pranking people in Hogwarts, especially with the changing staircases. Molly's a prefect too, but if we get caught by her, we'll definitely get in trouble. She's so uptight!"

Scorpius laughed.

"It's strange because her sister isn't like that at all."

"Which one is her sister?"

"Lucy. She's not in school yet. My brother Hugo is next actually, he'll be in school next year. So will Alice's brother Frank. Then James and Albus's sister Lily the year after. And Molly's sister Lucy will be last. And until Lucy's a second year, I'll have a cousin in every year."

"That's amazing. I wish I had that much family. My aunt moved her family to America recently, or else my two cousins would've started Hogwarts with me."

"I love my cousins, but sometimes they can be a bit much. Victoire and Dominique always want to make me over, Molly acts like she's so much better than the rest of us, and I always end up comforting Al because James is such a bully with him."

"But there must be good things."

"Well of course. Like I said, my cousins and I pull pranks together, my cousin Louis likes the same books I do, Teddy has always been like the older brother I never had and always wanted, Albus has been my best friends since forever, and no matter what, I know I always have an ally in him, James, and Lily… _especially_ Lily."

"Is it crazy, having a big family?"

"Oh yes. You should see it when we all gather at the Weasley Family Christmas Dinner."

"Christmas dinner is depressing in the ma-at my house," Scorpius said, quickly covering up the fact that he almost said 'manor.' "It's just my parents and I. And my cousins."

"What about family friends?"

"My family doesn't really have family friends. My dad's not very…popular. Most of the friends we have only stick around because they like my mom. But they don't join us for any special occasions and their kids don't really like me. To be honest, I don't much like them either."

"Well hopefully you'll like my cousins," Rose said. When Scorpius looked at her curiously, she said, "It comes with the territory. The territory being me. If your friends with me, then you'll be friends with them too, especially James and Al, and Lily when she comes to school."

"They're siblings, right?"

"Yup. The Potters. If you know my family, you definitely know theirs."

Scorpius nodded. "Of course."

A kind looking, plump witch walked by with the Honeydukes Express. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

"No thank you," Scorpius said politely.

Rose jumped up. "Um, can I have four Cauldron Cakes, one pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, two jelly slugs, six licorice wands, and twenty chocolate frogs? Oh and…" she looked back at Scorpius and finished, "…two glasses of iced pumpkin juice please."

"Certainly dear," the woman said pleasantly, giving Rose everything she asked for.

"Whoa," Scorpius said when the lady moved on.

"Whenever we go to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade, Mum only lets my brother and I buy one thing each. Sometimes two, if we get a good marks on something. But now Mum only lets Hugo buy two things if he gets a good mark, because I get good marks all the time. Anyway, I was really excited about the trolley because I can buy as much as I want, and it only cost me 7 sickles, which is about two weeks allowance."

"With my allowance, I could probably buy up the whole trolley," Scorpius said.

"Then why didn't you get anything?"

"I'm nervous about trying new food."

Rose was confused for a minute before she realized what Scorpius meant. "Are you saying you've never had sweets before?"

"For Christmas, my aunt gives me fudge, but that's about it."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "You've been deprived!" she cried. She held out a glass to him. "That's why I got two of these."

"What is this?"

"Have you had pumpkin juice before?"

"Of course."

"Well, this is iced pumpkin juice. Trust me, it's better."

Scorpius took it and sniffed it before he sipped. "Oh wow, it tastes amazing!" he cried.

"Obviously!" Rose replied. Then she looked at the rest of her haul. "If I split this in half, that'll leave each of us two Cauldron Cakes, one jelly slug, three licorice wands, and ten chocolate frogs. And we can share the bag of Every Flavor Beans." She gave Scorpius half.

"Oh, no, please, you don't have to-"

"I _want_ to. It wouldn't be right to have all this stuff and not let you try when you never have."

Scorpius smiled and took what Rose offered him. "So what's the best?"

"Definitely the chocolate frogs. They taste the best, plus they have cards."

"Cards?"

"Like, collectable trading cards of famous wizards. For Christmas, James, Albus, and I always get twenty or so of these each and we eat ourselves sick so that we can see what cards we got and trade each other. All my cousins love chocolate frogs, but we're the only ones who collect. Teddy collects too, but since he's so much older than us, he has lots of each of the cards made so far. He even has two or three of the really rare ones."

"Cool," Scorpius grinned, opening up one of the bars.

"You should collect too. It's really fun. And then James, Al, and I will have someone else to trade with at Christmas time." She unwrapped a chocolate frog of her own and smiled at the card. "Albus Dumbledore. This is who Al was named after. But I guess you knew that. He was headmaster when your parents went to school too." She gave Scorpius the card. "This was the card my Uncle Harry started with too."

"Thanks. Do you want mine?" Scorpius asked.

"I have most of the common ones, but I've been looking for an Agatha Stacey card since forever, so if you get her, I'd love it. The other rare ones I'm going to try to find myself for a little longer before I ask for them."

Scorpius looked at his card and his eyes widened. "I got your mother," he said.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I've got 19 of her," she said. "Not to mention 7 of Uncle Harry, 14 of Aunt Ginny, and 27 of my dad."

Scorpius looked at the card. Hermione Granger was smiling at him, her hair pulled into a bun. He turned it around and saw a small biography.

 _Hermione Granger is the most accomplished Muggle born witch of modern times. She is best known for her role in the defeat of the Dark Wizard Voldemort in 1998, including helping to locate the dark items known as Horcruxes, her work for the rights of underprivileged non-humans, specifically house elves through her organization S.P.E.W., and eradicating the old laws based in favor of pure-bloods. She works in the Ministry of Magic and is currently the Deputy-Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She is also the only witch under the age of 20 to survive the torture of Bellatrix Lestrange and not be driven insane. She enjoys reading, spending time with her sister-in-law Ginevra Potter, and teaching her kids about magic._

"Your mum sounds amazing," Scorpius said.

"Thanks," Rose replied, giving him another card. "I've got plenty of him."

Scorpius saw the card was of Viktor Krum, an old pro-Quidditch player.

"This is wicked!" Scorpius cried.

"My mum dated him for a little while," Rose said.

Scorpius's eyes grew wide and Rose laughed.

The rest of the ride was spent talking about their childhoods and devouring their treats. Rose didn't get the Agatha Stacey card she wanted, but she did get a Brooklyn Davis card, another rare one she was looking for. The rest went Scorpius, and he'd built up a nice collection.

An hour before they reached Hogwarts, Rose and Scorpius changed into their school robes, and spent the rest of time in fits of laughter as they ate Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. When the train stopped, Rose said she had to go join her cousins because that's where her trunk was, but she'd catch up with him at the Sorting. Before Scorpius could say anything more, Rose ran off, leaving Scorpius with a pit in his stomach.

Even after talking about the Sorting, he didn't realize until that very minute that his name-his _real name_ \- would be called out during the ceremony and Rose Weasley would know who he really was.

He hadn't lied about anything else-not about his whole family being in Slytherin, or his Christmas dinner being depressing. He hadn't lied about being nervous about not making any friends, about his disasterous trip to Ollivander's over the summer, about potions being very interesting to him. He hadn't lied about his lonely childhood, about how he and Amanda always ganged up on Ashli, who annoyed both of them to no end, whenever Aunt Daphne visited them. He'd told Rose more about himself than he'd told anybody. He'd never had someone to talk to before. They were becoming friends. But that would all end when Rose discovered who he really was. She'd hate him. And he had no idea how to change that.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

Rose put a comforting hand on Albus's shoulder as he shook next to her. He shot her a nervous look.

"Whatever house you end up in," she whispered, "we'll all love you just the same. Wherever you end up Albus Potter, you'll do great things."

Albus gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks Rosie. I believe that about you too. You're amazing."

Rose beamed at him as they faced forward. So far, they'd seen their family friend Hagrid, the groundkeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts, who led the first years to the castle in boats, and Professor Longbottom, who greeted Alice warmly and winked at Rose and Albus. Then, the Sorting Hat sung its song for the year. Now they were waiting patiently in the Great Hall for the Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor House, Minerva McGonagall, to start the Sorting process.

Finally, McGonagall opened up the piece of parchment she had with all the first year's names and started the process with "Armstrong, Arabella" who was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Boot, Suzanne."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Cornell, Samantha."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Plenty of Ravenclaws this year," Rose said. Albus nodded, still looking a little jittery.

Alice came over to the pair and spoke in low tones to Albus. Al had told Rose that since she had left, he struck up a conversation with Alice, and they'd actually become friends. As Alice and Albus talked, Rose looked around for Sammy. She saw him standing somewhat in the back.

"I'm going to go see Sammy," Rose whispered to Albus.

"You sat with him the whole way," Albus complained. He expected Rose to stay next to him for moral support.

"He's all alone back there. You've got Alice here," Rose said. "I love you Al. Good luck."

Albus sighed, but gave her an 'Oh, go ahead' smile. "Good luck Rosie," he said.

"Hey Sammy," Rose said to her new blond friend.

Sammy gave her a weak smile back.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm nervous all over again. The truth is, I don't want to be in Slytherin. I don't want to be like my family…especially my father."

"Then don't. I can't say where the hat will place you, but I can say that you are the master of your own fate. So take your life into your own hands. Being in the same house as your father doesn't mean you'll be like him. Your first advantage is that you don't _want_ to be like him. If you're in Slyhterin, that's all the better because that means you have the ambition to be a better man. Your house doesn't determine your fate."

Sammy smiled. "Thank you Rose." He noticed the tightness in her eyes. "You're nervous too," he noted.

Rose nodded. "I kind of _want_ to be in Slytherin. I'd do well there. But my dad might actually drop dead. He wants me to be in Gryffindor so badly, and my mom says she's fine with any house, but I don't think she meant Slytherin when she said that."

"Your parents love you, and they'll be proud of you no matter what. If you think you'll do well in Slytherin, then chances are, your mother knows that too. And they'll want you to be in the house that the hat thinks you'll thrive in. That's the point, right?"

"Right. Thanks Sammy."

They grinned at each other, then Rose snapped to attention when McGonagall called, "Jordan, Portia" up. Portia got sorted into Hufflepuff, and she grinned at Rose as she took her seat at the Hufflepuff table.

For a while, Sammy and Rose whispered to each other as other kids got sorted. If Rose noticed several students were staring, pointing at, and whispering about Sammy, she didn't say anything.

"Levlin, Emily!" McGonagall called.

An excited looking blond girl put on the hat. It placed her in Ravenclaw almost immediately. She was the fastest first year to be sorted that year.

Then, McGonagall called up, "Longbottom, Alice." Several students turned to look at Professor Longbottom, while others whispered about her, saying things like, 'She'll be another famous addition to Gryffindor house." Alice exchanged smiles with Albus before placing the hat on her head.

"Sammy!" Rose cried. "Your last name is Link! That's before Longbottom. They forgot you!"

"No. No Rose, they didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat cried.

The Ravenclaw table clapped, and Alice smiled, taking a seat next to Arabella, the first girl sorted.

"My name isn't Sammy Link," Sammy said.

"What is it then?" Rose asked, sounding hurt and looking confused.

"It's-"

"Malfoy, Scorpius," McGonagall said.

Sammy gave Rose a weak smile, then made his way to the Sorting Hat. Rose's mouth dropped open.

Albus was shocked as well, and glared at the boy as he passed him, not because he hated the Malfoy boy per se, but because he lied to Rose, and Rose couldn't stand being lied to for any reason. How dare he?

Scorpius took a deep breath, sat down, placed the hat on his head, and waited. Rose bit her lip. She had no idea how this would go.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

As Scorpius made his way to the front, whispers started, most of them saying 'I hope he isn't placed _here_.' They already hated him. They were already judging him.

Albus Potter gave him a glare. He was probably influenced by his family to hate him. Once Scorpius placed the hat on his head, he looked at Rose. She looked away and Scorpius wanted to cry. He'd lost the first and only friend he'd ever made. And she'd probably be the last too.

" _Hmmm_ ," he heard a voice in his head. " _How interesting._ "

" _You're a hat. But you're speaking in my mind. How are you doing that?_ " Scorpius asked, surprised.

" _Magic boy, obviously,_ " the Hat said dryly.

" _Oh. Yeah. So…what's interesting_?"

" _Well, your pedigree leads you to Slytherin, but your heart does not._ "

Scorpius sighed. Rose told him to take control of his own fate, and that's just what he planned to do. He wanted to be different. Different from his father, from his family, from everyone's expectations. He wanted to prove that he was not Draco Malfoy. And one way to do that was to be placed where no one expected him to be.

" _I don't want to be in Slytherin. I don't want to be like my father. I_ want _to be in Gryffindor._ "

" _You have the ambition of a Slytherin, and the chivalry of a Gryffindor. But you do not have the slyness or cunningness of a Slytherin or the daringness of a Gryffindor. You're brave, but not the Gryffindor type of brave. Neither house is right for you._ "

" _Then what is_?"

" _Well, like I said, you're not the correct type of brave for Gryffindor. Your bravery lies more in wanting to protect than wanting to fight. It's in line with the bravery of Hufflepuffs."_

Great. That was all Scorpius needed. If he were to be placed in Hufflepuff, his father would disown him. Then again, what better house would prove he was different?

" _Okay. I'm alright with that. Anything else you want to tell me_?"

" _You are not cunning, but that is not to say you are not clever. You have a brilliant mind_."

" _Thanks,_ " Scorpius said. " _But I don't think I'm right for-"_

" _I think I know what house you're right for_ ," the Hat interrupted. " _But it is your choice. You are not right for Slytherin or Gryffindor. You have two choices left._ "

" _My choice is for you to hurry up. This is taking forever. The last thing I want is to be a Hatstall. Then people will think you wanted to put me in Slytherin._ "

" _First of all, you cannot worry about what others think. Second, you must not know anything of magic. It may feel like a long time, but the truth is, I have only been on your head for ten seconds._ "

That was impossible, but then, so was magic, so Scorpius decided to let it go and focus.

" _Put me where you want. I trust you_."

" _In that case, better be…_ "

"RAVENCLAW!"

Scorpius looked surprised, but was pleased. He took the hat off and made his way to the Ravenclaw table. Everyone was eerily quiet at first. A pretty girl with honey colored hair and ocean blue eyes came in and sat down at the Ravenclaw table, looking confused as to why everyone was so silent. She began to clap, and reluctantly, the other Ravenclaws followed suit. Scorpius smiled at the girl gratefully. It wasn't the warm reception the others had gotten, but it was something. Scorpius tried to catch Rose's eye as he sat down, but now she was with Albus, firmly looking away from him.

"Why were you so late anyway?" an African American boy was asking the honey colored hair girl.

"My dad totally spaced and we missed the train. He had to owl McGonagall to open up the floo network so I could get here."

The boy laughed. "And you wonder why you didn't get Head Girl."

"Oh shut _up_ Clark!" the girl snapped. She turned to Scorpius. "Hi. I'm Harper Collins. I was named after Harper Lee."

"Uh…who?"

"My dad's favorite muggle author. He's a Muggle born wizard. My mum is a pureblood witch though. You're a first year?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I'm a seventh year. I'm also a Ravenclaw prefect. I should've been Head Girl, but I should've known better than to expect that honor when Victoire Weasley is in my year. She's a Gryffindor and Head Girl, but if you need any help, promise you'll come to me instead of her, okay?"

"Sure. It'll probably be easier to go to the prefect in my house than Victoire, even if she _is_ Head Girl," Scorpius said.

Harper smiled. "I like you. I didn't catch your name. I came in after the Sorting Hat declared you a Ravenclaw."

"Oh, uh…" Scorpius cringed. His name would make or break his friendship with Harper. The boy next to her-Clark, was it?-was smirking at him. "Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy."

The smile instantly dropped off of Harper's face and her eyes turned sour. "Oh. So you're the Malfoy boy. Oh." She immediately turned away from him and said, "So Clark, how was your summer?"

"Oh, it was awesome! Remember how last year I told you that I probably wouldn't-"

Scorpius tuned them out and sighed inwardly. That was the end of _that_. His family history ruined two potential friendships in the same day.

"Potter, Albus," McGonagall said.

Rose gave Albus the bright smile Scorpius had come to love.

Whispers started again.

"That's Harry Potter's kid. _Harry Potter's kid!_ "

"You think he'll end up in Gryffindor like his brother?"

"I wonder if he'll give me an autograph like his brother."

"My sister would be so jealous if she knew I was in the same house as _two_ Potters."

"He should be in Hufflepuff. We could use some famous blood."

"So could _we_ ," Harper said to Clark from beside Scorpius.

"He looks just like his dad!"

Albus placed the hat on his head. Only twenty seconds passed when it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into applause and cheers. He had the best reception so far. Albus looked dumbfounded for a minute before a huge grin broke out on his face. He hopped down from the stage happily. Rose gave him a quick hug before he joined the Gryffindor table, sitting next to a boy with the same jet black hair as Albus. The boy clapped him on the back and Scorpius figured that must be his brother James.

There was a string of Hufflepuffs next, then three Slytherins. Finally, there were only three people left.

"Weasley, Rose," McGonagall said.

Scorpius snapped to attention.

Rose wore a nervous smile as she walked up to the hat. Predictably, people whispered about her too.

"Weasley? There sure are a lot of famous people's kids starting this year."

"She certainly looks like a Weasley."

"She'll be a Gryffindor for sure."

"We could use her in _this_ house." That came from Harper.

"Isn't that the girl who disarmed her cousin at the station today?"

"Disarmed? With expelliarmus?"

"But I can't even do that spell yet, and I'm a fourth year!"

"Wait, what are they all talking about?" Harper asked Clark.

"She used expelliarmus on James Potter at the station and his wand went _flying_ ," Clark explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Two of Dominique's friends told me. They saw the whole thing."

"We could _definitely_ use her in this house," Harper said. "Though it's strange. She doesn't look much like a Weasley."

Clark rolled his eyes. "You only think that because the only Weasley you pay attention to is Victoire, who has blond hair. But red hair is a big Weasley trait."

Finally, Rose got to the stool. Like Scorpius, she took a deep breath before placing the hat on her head. Scorpius was nervous on her behalf. He hoped she was in Gryffindor. She deserved something good to happen for her. After all, she was nice to him when he didn't even deserve it.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

"Weasley, Rose," McGonagall called.

Rose ignored all the whispers as she went up to the stage. She took a deep breath, sat down, and placed the hat on her head.

" _Another Weasley, eh? Should've expected it_ ," the Hat said.

Rose, who already knew about the Sorting Hat being able to talk in people's minds thanks to reading _Hogwarts, A History_ , just smiled.

" _You must've sorted so many of us by now."_

 _"Oh yes. Anymore of you I should know about?_ "

" _There's my brother Hugo coming next year, and my cousin Lily coming the year after, although she's technically a Potter. And then I do have one more Weasley cousin coming a year after Lily. But after that, no more Weasleys til we have kids_."

The Sorting Hat actually laughed in her head, then said, " _You are very conflicted about where you want to end up_."

" _Well, that's why you're here, right? What do you think_?"

" _You have the traits of several houses. You are brave and daring like a Gryffindor, but not quite as chivalrous. You're loyal and kind when it comes to your friends, which is very Hufflepuff of you, but not as patient or hardworking as a Hufflepuff. You seem like a perfect fit for Slytherin however."_

 _"That's what I thought. I'll be a Slytherin if you think that's where I'll thrive."_

 _"You certainly will. But it's not the only house you'll thrive in. There's one more that's perfect for you. And in fact, while you embody all the traits of a Slytherin, there's really no point in you being sorted there if you already_ have _those traits. The point of the sorting is for you to end up in a house where you have the potential to gain all the traits of that house. There is one house that fits that description for you."_

 _"I'll go there!"_ Rose said immediately, not even thinking about which house that would be. " _I don't want to go to Slytherin if it's not going to further my character. The point us to learn something and become someone because of your house, not being in a house because of who you already are."_

 _"In that case, better be…"_

"RAVENCLAW!"

At first, the Gryffindor house started clapping. It took the entire Great Hall a full ten seconds to realize Rose hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor. When they did realize it, the Ravenclaws erupted into cheers and applause. The celebration was as loud and joyous as Gryffindor's had been for Al.

Rose smiled serenely, and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. She never considered being a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. For some reason, it had always been between Gryffindor and Slytherin for her. But Ravenclaw was perfect. She'd be with like-minded individuals and she'd really be able to make something of herself. Her intellect paired with her loved of learning and her Slyhterin ambition would make her a tough person to beat.

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

Scorpius joined in with his fellow Ravenclaws when they applauded for Rose. At first, he was just insanely excited that his first friend was in his house. They'd have all their classes together! But then he remembered Rose hated him now. The minute she found out who he really was, she was done with him.

He was really stupid when he thought about it. Too stupid to be in Ravenclaw. How long did he think he could hide his true identity? She would've found out sooner or later who he really was. Most other people already knew.

Rose took the first empty seat she saw at the Ravenclaw table, which was next to Scorpius. She looked firmly at her plate while the last two kids, Winslow, Sara, and Zeffer, Renley were sorted into Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectively.

Once they were sorted, Harper extended her hand towards Rose, over Scorpius. "Hi Rose. I'm Harper Collins, seventh year prefect."

"Oh, like Harper Lee," Rose said, shaking Harper's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Harper's eyes lit up. "You're the only person I've met that knows why my father named me Harper."

" _To Kill a Mockingbird_ is one of my favorite books."

"Mine too, and not just because I'm named after the author."

"I'm Clark Reynolds," Clark spoke up. "And I think you should know Harper has a secret vendetta against your cousin."

"Shut up, I do not!" Harper cried. She continued to yell at Clark, leaving Rose looking bewildered.

"Um…" she said, at a loss. "Which one?"

Scorpius almost laughed at that. "He means Victoire. She beat Harper out for Head Girl."

Rose furrowed her brows for a moment. "Yeah. I remember Vic saying someone named Harper would be really disappointed when she found the Head Girl badge in her Hogwarts envelope."

Scorpius lowered his voice to a whisper. "Harper keeps griping about it. 'Upset' doesn't even begin to describe it."

They both laughed softly. Then Rose stopped abruptly, as if she remembered she was supposed to be mad at him.

Scorpius sighed. He should've expected this. He couldn't apologize for being a Malfoy or being Draco's son, but he could apologize on his father's behalf.

"Look, Rose, I'm-"

"Scorpius, I still want to be your friend," Rose interrupted. "But never lie to me again."

"W-what?"

"You heard me."

" _That's_ what you're upset about?"

"What should I be upset about?"

"Um…I'm Scorpius Malfoy."

"Congratulations," Rose said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm Rose Weasley."

Scorpius tried to say something, but no words came out.

Rose's eyes softened. "I don't care that you're a Malfoy," she said gently. "I know what your father did to my mother and my dad and uncle. I also know that's in the past, and it's _their_ problem, not ours. If you'd told me who you were really on the train, nothing would've changed."

Scorpius stared at her for a few seconds before forming a response. "Oh," he said dumbly.

"The thing I'm mad about it that you lied to me. So…never again. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. In that case, Scorpius Malfoy, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Scorpius's face broke out into a wide smile. "I couldn't agree more."

SCOROSE SCOROSE SCOROSE

 **A/N: Hope you liked it! So this was originally supposed to be a multi-chapter fic, and Rose's hatred of lying goes deeper than everyone's run of the mill 'I hate when people lie to me' thing. That would've been explained in future chapters. I will update this if inspiration strikes, but the first chapter had been in my head so long, I decided to publish it as a one shot. Review guys! Please and thank you!**


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